Society for the Promotion of People’s Right, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), has called on all tiers of government and relevant stakeholders to design a framework to address waste management in Nigeria.
Mr Williams Osaze, President of the organisation, made the call in an interview on Wednesday, March 3, 2021 in Abuja.
Osaze said that the government should collaborate with other relevant stakeholders to provide an effective framework that would get rid of waste and provide a lasting solution to the problem.
He said that the federal and states governments as well as other stakeholders should pay greater attention to campaign on turning waste into wealth through an Integrated Waste Management System (IWMS).
Osaze said that IWMS include waste reduction methods such as reusing, recycling and composting, adding that waste management was one of the important issues in environmental management.
“Unsustainable waste management has the potential to cause various environmental problems.
“Waste management starts from the upstream to downstream levels so that it can reduce the amount of waste generation.
“The importance of integration in a waste management system is a must and requires seriousness in applying it to create a good and sustainable waste management system.
“Indiscriminate dumping of refuse by Nigerians has led to increasing illegal dumpsites while refuse heaps have become a common sight in popular urban centres in the country.
“The attitude of the people in disposing waste is discouraging, as it is now considered normal for entire communities to either dump refuse along streets and drainages or engage in open burning practice,’’ he said.
Osaze said that the poor waste management culture had caused some adverse effects on the environment, while exposing the citizens to serious health challenges.
He said that indiscriminate dumping of waste has increased the generation of greenhouse gasses, such as carbon dioxide and this was partly caused by rapid urbanisation and poor waste.
The president said that the issue would be tackled if the government engages various communities to participate in the process of managing their wastes.
“It is good to sensitise the communities on the importance of waste to wealth, educate them on how to generate wealth from waste.
“Information they said is power, some of them don’t even know how to go about processing waste to wealth, so they need to be sensitised effectively with appropriate stakeholders.
“The efforts I believed will help reduce waste in any given environment in the country.”
He, however, urged Nigerians to promote waste reduction by engaging the best practice through reuse and recycle principles.
By Vivian Emoni
